New Twist in Bob Woodward-White House Feud

Associate Editor of the Washington Post Bob Woodward speaks at the Newseum during an event marking the 40th anniversary of Watergate at the Newseum in Washington, DC in this June 13, 2012 file photo.

A White House aide’s purported threat to journalist Bob Woodward over his sequester reporting doesn’t appear to have been that threatening, according to the full text of the email exchange published Thursday, marking the latest twist in a Beltway feud.

The tiff started last weekend, when Mr. Woodward, the veteran Washington Post reporter, wrote an opinion article headlined “Obama’s Sequester Deal-Changer.” In the piece, he accused the administration of moving the goal posts on budget talks by now insisting that new revenues be part of any agreement to replace the sequester’s budget cuts. He has described as “madness” President Obama’s decision to not deploy an aircraft carrier group because of the cuts, which are set to take effect Friday.

(Separately, in an interview on WSJ.com, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he believed the aircraft carrier decision was made by military leaders who didn’t have political motives.)